On Thursday, June 7th Governor Terry Branstad will proclaim June 11-17, 2012 as Iowa Museum Week.  During this week, Iowa's museums will raise awareness of their programs and celebrate what makes them unique community assets.  Iowa's ninety-nine counties are home to hundreds of historical societies and specialized museums as well as to major regional collections in art, history, agricultural, botanical and living collections.  Iowa's museums are important community assets, attracting  visitors to area hotels, restaurants, and recreational areas;  providing education and outreach for all ages; driving both incoming tourism revenue and job creation; and contributing to the overall quality of life that makes Iowa's communities great places to live, work, and raise a family.

Governor Branstad has recognized the importance of Iowa's museums in his proclamation, stating that Iowa Museum Week will celebrate the crucial role of Iowa's museums in preserving the historical fabric and memory of our state through preservation of artifacts and archives; in providing educational resources and programs which expand learning opportunities for all ages; in contributing to a vibrant community and state economy through job creation, purchase of goods and services, and by attracting tourism revenue to the community and state; and in their significant role in enhancing community quality of life.

A 2011 survey of 174 Iowa museums (about half of all Iowa museums) found that they maintain 5.4 million artifacts of all types.  They employ 1,464 individuals and depend upon 28,416 volunteers.  Surveyed Iowa museums served 4.2 million visitors in 2010 and provided 11,105 public programs.  Those museums participating in the survey had a total operating budget of $57 million in 2010, portions of which derived from individuals, community, county, state and federal sources.

Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, will offer buy one get one free mansion tours in honor of Iowa Museum Week June 12 through 17. Mansion tours are offered March through December, Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 3:00 p.m. Tours begin on the hour and last approximately 50 minutes. Admission is $7.00 for adults, $3.00 for children between the ages of 6 and 18, and free to Brucemore members. Purchase tickets in the Brucemore Store and Visitor Center. Please contact Brucemore at (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org for more information.

Iowa's museums are supported in their missions by the Iowa Museum Association, a statewide association of museums including art centers and art museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, historic sites, historical societies, living history sites, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, and zoos.

The mission of the Iowa Museum Association is to provide quality training and development to Iowa museum professionals and volunteers, advocate for support of Iowa's museums, and build a strong community of museums and museum supporters in Iowa.

The mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers that Americans remember each May are strikingly different from "Julia," the star of Obama's political campaign.

We cannot see helpless Julia as Molly Pitcher, stepping up to fire a cannon in the Revolutionary War in place of her fallen husband. We can't picture Julia taking risks to free slaves in the War Between the States, or doing demanding work nursing dying soldiers in battles, or being willing to endure walking alongside a wagon train to settle the West.

Julia does not work from dawn to dusk to build shelter, plant crops, harvest food to eat, sew clothes, haul water, or clean up waste as our ancestors did. Julia does not stand side by side with her parents, brothers, sisters, and husband to build a community and fight to defend it.

Julia does not seem to have any of those natural relationships most women have?she only has the parasitic "relationship" with the "government" with her from cradle to grave.

Julia doesn't need the skills our foremothers had...or even the skills of women today who work in fields previously only available to men. Everything is done for Julia through government benefits!  But remember, those benefits come from taxing someone else's work.

Poor hapless Julia can't even "focus" on her web design work without free contraceptives provided by the government to "ease her worries" about getting pregnant. When Julia does "decide" to have a child, she then sends the child off on a bus to be raised at a government school.

Our foremothers showed strength, independence, and courage. They had no guarantee of the basics of life, even water, food, or shelter, and endured unbelievable hardship. They persevered through hard times, held their families together, and passed along their culture, their traditions, their standards, and dreams of liberty to the next generation.

American women have helped build the strongest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world.  Through their own hard work, women reached the pinnacle of success in many fields: business, medicine, law, the military, engineering, space exploration, mining, construction, science, and government. They achieve through their effort and initiative and development of skills, a process we call earned success.

Julia, on the other hand, exemplifies learned helplessness and dependency. Her life shows the stark contrast between the vision of our Founders and the vision of modern "progressives." Instead of having the freedom to choose her own path and to succeed based on one's work, one's intellect, one's right to keep property, and one's personal values, Julia's life is subservient to Big Daddy government for protection to help her day to day. Although Julia doesn't realize it, she could lose her favored "protection" at any time her protectors lose an election.

Government will take care of Julia?after it decides she is one of the chosen. Julia will be allowed to live as long as she is perceived to be an asset to the state. Once she becomes too old, or too sick, she will be "comforted" and "assisted" in dying when the government decides it is her time to go so that "society's" resources can be spent on someone younger or more politically valuable.

It is a cruel irony that the very progressives who are reducing our women to this pathetic state are accusing others of making "war on women." This government nanny kills the soul and the creative spirit of strong women, and creates passive, helpless shells of women living a shadow life.

The spirit of America is not embodied in the faceless, passive cartoon character of Julia, holding out her hand for government benefits.

The true spirit of America is embodied in The Lady Liberty, a strong woman who values the law, stands proudly holding her torch high as a beacon to victims of tyranny and oppression throughout the world.

The spirit of women we celebrate each Mother's Day is embodied in the millions of women who dared to dream, who dared to take risks, who dared to explore the unknown and work alongside men to build a great nation.

I have spent a career in Medicine focused on empowering women, not creating dependency.  Let it not be said that freedom to choose one's path in life died on our watch while we made passive, parasitic "Julias" out of our young women.

http://www.aapsonline.org/

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DES MOINES - In a continued effort to share President Obama's vision for our country, Obama for America released a new television ad in Iowa titled "Reverse" that highlights the steady, consistent recovery President Obama is leading for the middle class.

President Obama is coming to Iowa on May 24th for a grassroots event at the Paul R. Knapp Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.  Thursday's event is the President's first campaign grassroots event in Iowa of this election cycle.   It is open to the public, and no tickets are required. Space will be first come, first served. Doors will open at 4:30 PM CST. The address for the Iowa State Fairgrounds is 3000 East Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50317, and guests should enter using the main entrance to the fair grounds at the intersection of East 30th St. and East Grand Ave.

When the president took office, our country was losing 750,000 jobs a month and he took immediate action to stop the bleeding, not only helping the private sector end the free-fall, but reverse the trend. Instead of losing jobs, we are now creating them -- 4.2 million private sector jobs over 26 consecutive months of job growth.

Since day one, President Obama has been fighting for the middle class and working to move Iowa and our country forward.  While we're moving in the right direction, we have much more work to do.   We are growing an economy that's built to last, where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded, where everyone has a fair shot and does their fair share, and everyone from Wall Street to Main Street plays by the same set of rules.

That is why President Obama is running for re-election, because America cannot afford to go in reverse.

Please click here to watch the ad.

Please click here to read the backup.

Ceremony Highlights Heroism and Bravery of Illinois Servicemembers

CHICAGO - May 19, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn today joined Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Illinois National Guard Maj. General William Enyart to honor Illinois National Guardsmen Sgt. First Class Ryan Ahern of Glen Ellyn and Capt. Tom Bozzay of Wheaton with Silver Stars for valor. Gen. Dempsey presented the awards to Ahern and Bozzay for their heroic actions in Afghanistan in December 2009 while protecting a French military unit. 

"As we honor our military heroes on Armed Services Day, we must never forget their sacrifices," Governor Quinn said. "Sgt. First Class Ahern and Capt. Bozzay are genuine heroes and a shining example of Illinois' best."

Ahern and Bozzay are both assigned to Company A, 2^nd Battalion, 20^th Special Forces Group in Chicago. While deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 and while under attack from a large enemy force, Bozzay moved under fire to provide medical care to five unit members who were seriously injured. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Bozzay repeatedly used his body to shield wounded comrades from incoming fire.

Ahern was unconscious when the unit received fire, which wounded him and four others. After regaining consciousness from the blast, Ahern identified and fired at the enemy long enough to allow other members of the unit to reinforce their positions.

"The actions of Capt. Bozzay and Sgt. 1st Class Ahern prove they are not only heroes, but they are true protectors of this country," said Enyart. "They were selfless and fearless without hesitating to simply do their job. They are an inspiration to me and our fellow Illinois National Guardsmen."

The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration that can be awarded to any branch of the United States Military. Today's ceremony on United States Armed Services Day at the Pritzker Military Library comes as the Illinois National Guard is playing a key role in this weekend's historic NATO summit in Chicago. On Sunday, Governor Quinn will join Polish President Bronis?aw Komorowski for a ceremony honoring continued military cooperation between Poland and the Illinois National Guard.

As Memorial Day approaches, Governor Quinn is encouraging Illinois residents to honor the servicemen and servicewomen who have lost their lives fighting for democracy by supporting programs that benefit Gold Star Families, including the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund, Operation Hero Miles, and Operation Support Our Troops. For more information about programs for our Veterans, visit www.operationhomefront.org or call the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs at 217-782-6641 or 312-814-2460.

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